Drinking cup for fowls



Feb. 18, 1969 H. w. HART 3,428,028

DRINKING lCUP FOR FowLs Filed Jan. 1967 Sheet of n WW2 26 5' /jf /45Feb. 18, 969 H. W. HART DRINKING CUP FOR FOWLS 2 of E Sheet Filed Jan.1967 United States Patent O 3,428,028 DRINKlNG CUP FOR FOWLS Harold W.Hart, Glendale, Calif., assignor to H. W. Hart Mfg. Co., Glendale,Calif., a corporation of California Filed Jan. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 607,536U.S. Cl. 119-75 12 Claims Inl. Cl. Atllk 7/02 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThe invention is a drinking cup for fowls wherein the fowls peck atrigger to actuate a valve for supplying water to the cup. The triggeris a buoyant lever that responds to axial force as well as to lateralforces from all radial directions.

Background of the invention This invention relates to a drinking cup forpoultry of the type which is connected to a water supply at a suitablepressure and includes a valve with an operating member inside the cupthat may be pecked by the fowls to release the Water as required.Typically, the Water passage of the cup is formed with a valve seat anda cooperating valve member is normally held in closed position againstthe seat by the pressure of the water supply. The valve has an operatingextension which extends through the valve seat and through the passagetowards the drinking cup.

In one such drinking cup that is disclosed in my Patent 2,319,928 and isused primarily for adult birds, the operating extension of the valvemember is in the form of a plunger that extends into the cup proper toserve as a pecking target. To prevent excessive release of Water bymature birds, the plunger end presents a relatively small target and thepecks not only must be applied forcefully but also in such manner as toretract the plunger axially. Such a drinking cup may be used with thewater supply at a relatively low head.

A second drinking cup disclosed in my Patent 2,845,046 employs a triggerin the form of a lever that overhangs the end of such a plunger. With amoderate head of water the trigger action is suiciently sensitive forimmature birds.

Other drinking cup structures set forth in my cepending application Ser.No. 494,054, led Oct. 8, 1965, now Patent No. 3,353,518 and Ser. No.579,810, liled Sept. 16, 1966 are characterized by the use of a triggerthat is initially highly sensitive for use by immature birds andprovision is made for reducing the sensitivity of the trigger action foruse by adult birds. The sensitivity may be reduced by increasing thesupply pressure and/or either substituting a less sensitive trigger orremoving part of a trigger to reduce its sensitivity.

A clear need exists for a single trigger mechanism that will meet therequirements for young immature birds as well as .requirements for adultbirds and that may be used with a relatively wide range of supplypressures. In other words a drinking cup with a single trigger is neededthat will combine the advantages of the above prior art devices.

For use by young birds, the trigger should be highly sensitive so thatit will respond to relatively light peckingforces and the trigger shouldfunction as a lloat to insure the presence of water in the drinking cupat all times. Since young fowls peck in a random manner the peckingtarget should be relatively large and should respond to light pecksdelivered from all possible angles.

A single trigger mechanism of this versatility would make it possible tomeet the changing needs of growing birds without requiring thesubstitution of one trigger for another and without requiring anyadjustment or manipulation of the trigger mechanism. The single triggershould be operative with a relatively low head of approximately 15" and,on the other hand should be operative with a relatively high head of72".

The general purpose of the present invention is to solve the problemsinvolved in meeting the above discussed need for improvement in thisart.

Summary of the invention In the new valve operating mechanism, the valvemember has the usual operating extension that extends through the valveseat into the water supply passage downstream from the valve seat butthis extension terminates at a point in the supply passage that issubstantially spaced from the interior of the drinking cup proper. Inthe region of the end of the operating extension of the valve, thesupply passage is formed with an annular shoulder that faces upstream. Abuoyant trigger member to exert force on the operating extension of thevalve member is in the form of a disk with an axial stem to serve as anoperating arm. The disk seats in the supply passage in such manner as toserve as a second-class lever to fulcrum against the shoulder for thepurpose of actuating the valve member. The axial stem or operating armextends rigidly from the disk through the supply passage into theinterior of the drinking cup to serve as a pecking target for operationof the valve mechanism. A relatively long trigger member affording highleverage advantage may be employed with any desired portion of thetrigger exposed in the drinking cup proper. The trigger member may bemolded from a suitable plastic of less specific gravity than -water suchas polypropylene.

A further feature of the invention that is of advantage for immaturefowls is the concept of reducing the lower interior of the cup in crosssection to form what may be termed a bottom receptacle into which theoperating stem of the trigger protrudes to Whatever degree is desired.One advantage of reducing the size in plan of the body of water that isnormally retained in the drinking cup is that the target portion of thetrigger may occupy a relatively large proportion of the area in plan toincrease the probability that a random peck by an immature fowl willmake operating contact with the trigger. For this purpose the targetportion of the trigger may be enlarged to any desirable degree and theenlarged target portion may extend well into the interior of the bottomreceptacle.

It has been found that with the drinking cup shaped to provide a bottomreceptacle of reduced size with the trigger target extending into theinterior of the receptacle, the trigger target may be placed at anoptimum distance from the bottom wall of the drinking cup to assure thatan adequate body of water will be available for the fowls and to assurethat the fowls will keep feedfrom accumulating in the bottom of the cup.

A further feature of the preferred practice of the invention is theconcept of Haring the walls of the cup above the level of the bottomreceptacle into which the trigger target extends. One advantage of theflared configuration is that the inwardly inclined wall surfaces guidethe birds beaks to teh region of the trigger target to facilitate theeducation of the birds in the use of the drinking cup.

Another advantage is that the flared cup configuration eliminates acause of injury to the birds wattles. A still further advantage of theflared rim is that the flared rim may be of adequate depth to eliminatesplashing of the Water out of the cup. The fowls commonly manipulatetheir beaks in a manner to slop out water, but the restricted dimensionsof the lbottom receptacle reduce the room available for suchmaneuvering.

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

Brie)c description of the drawings In the drawings, which are to geregarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. l is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention in theform of a flared drinking cup;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the valve mechanism in itsnormal static state;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse section along the line 3-3 of FIG. lshowing the configuration of the cage that confines the disk portion ofthe trigger;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the valve mechanismoperated for the release of water into the drinking cup;

FIG. 5 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1 showing the invention embodimentin a drinking cup having straight side walls; and

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the drinking cup shown inFIG. 5.

Description ofthe preferred embodiments Referring to the firstembodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-3, a portion of a plasticconduit 10 of a watering system has an outlet fitting 12 bonded theretowith an internal screw thread for connection to a drinking cup generallydesignated 14. The drinking oup is made of a suitable plastic reinforcedby glass bers and is provided with a nipple 15 that screws into theoutlet fitting 12. The nipple 15 provides a passage 16 through whichwater may flow from the conduit under control of a valve mechanism thatextends through the passage.

In the construction shown, the nipple 16 is made of the same plastic asthe cup and is molded separately from the cup, the nipple being bondedto the cup by a suitable cement. The end of the nipple 15 may form aconvex conical valve seat for cooperation with an elastomeric valvemember 18, but preferably such a valve seat is formed by a conicalenlargement of a ltube 22 that is fixedly mounted to the nipple by asuitable cement.

The elastomeric valve member 18 is cup-shaped for cooperation with theconvex conical valve seat 20 and is mounted on an enlargement 24 of apin 25 that is slidingly mounted in the tube 22 with suiiicientclearance for adequate water flow through the tube. Preferably, both thetube 22 and the pin 25 are made of a suitable plastic. The inner end ofthe pin 25 is formed with an enlargement 26 which is tapered as shown topermit the pin to be assembled to the tube by forcing the enlargementthrough the r tube. The enlargement 26 of the pin serves as a stop incooperation with the inner end of the tube 22 to prevent withdrawal ofthe pin from the tube. The length of the pin 25 to the enlargement 26 issufficient to permit the valve member 18 to move from an open positionto a closed position against the valve seat 20. The pin 25 constitutesin effect an operating extension of the valve member 18 by means ofwhich the valve member may be operated te control the release of waterinto the cup 14.

A trigger, generally designated 30, for acting on the pin 25 to controlthe valve member 18 functions both as a oat and a second-class lever andprovides sufficient leverage for operation by the pecking force of afowl to open the valve in opposition to a head of water of a ma gnitudeon the order of six feet. The trigger is a one-piece molded plastic bodyhaving a disk` portion 32 and a stem or operating arm 34 which projectsaxially from the disk and terminates in a suitable buoyant enlargementor pecking target 35 inside the drinking cup. The disk portion 32 of thetrigger is conned in a cage 36 which is provided with three equallycircumferentially spaced guide ribs 38 the guide ribs being shown insection in FIG. 3.

The disk portion 32 of the trigger is adapted to back against an innercircumferential shoulder 40 at slight spacing from the inner end of thepin 25 when the valve meniber 1=8 is firmly seated by the pressure ofthe water supply. `In other Words, care is taken that the pin 25 is nottoo long to prevent snug seating of the valve member 18.

It is apparent that if a purely axial force is applied to the end of thepecking target 35 to cause purely axial translation of the disk portion15, the axial translation against the inner end of the pin 25 willunseat the valve member 18. It is further apparent in FIG. 4 that if apecking force from any radial direction is applied to the pecking target35, the disk portion 32 will tilt to fulcrum against the innercircumferential shoulder 40 and thus act against the inner end of thepin 25 to unseat the valve member 118, the location of the fulcrum forceagainst the inner circumferential shoulder depending upon the radialdirection of the pecking force. Thus the trigger. 30 is not only a float4but als a sensitive lever that functions universally in the sense thatit will operate in the radial plane of any radial force that is appliedto the target 35.

If the pressure of the supply water against the valve member 18 is onlymoderate or relatively low the weight of the operating arm 34 and thepecking target 35 are suicient to unseat the valve member 18 in theabsence of water in the cup 14. When the water rises high enough in thecup to lift the operating arm to approximately horizontal position thevalve member 18 seats to cut off the flow. The buoyancy of the operatingarm and its enlargement are not intended to be suicient to unseat thevalve member 18 in the event that the water level rises unduly in thecup.

A diiicult-y with drinking cups of this general character is thatforeign particles such as particles of feed and grains of sand commonlymigrate from the interior of the cup into the ow passage 16 to clog thevalve mechanism. In this regard a feature of the present invention isthat the stem or operating arm 35 of the trigger 30 is small relative tothe surrounding passage 16 to provide freedom for universal swinging ofthe trigger and consequently the annular space in the passage 16 aroundthe stem or operating arm is so liberal that clogging does not occur.The liberal clearance prevents clogging material from being wedged inplace and any material that does enter the annular clearance space ispromptly ushed out of the annular space the next time that the triggeris actuated.

A feature of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 isthat the lower portion of the drinking cup 14 is reduced in crosssection to form what may be termed a bottom receptacle 42 which isformed with a rim 44 slightly above the level of the pecking target 35.Above the rim 44 the walls of the drinking cup 14 are ared so that theupper rim proper 45 of the cup is of relatively large diameter. Sincenormally the water level in the cup is no more than 1A; of an inch abovethe pecking target, the water level does not ordinarily rise to anysubstantial height above the inner rim 44 that defines the bottomreceptacle 42. 'I'he depth of the bottom receptacle 42 as measured fromthe underside of the pecking target 35 is on the order of 1%; indh.

A number of important advantages are inherent in the spatialrelationship of the pecking target 40 and the surrounding interior ofthe drinking cup. Of special importance in the training of young fowlsto use the drinking cup is the fact that the pecking target 35 occupiesa large proportion of the area in plan of the bottom receptacle 42, thepecking target extending at least approximately half way across thebottom receptacle to greatly increase the chance that a random peck willmake impact against the trigger target. It is also conducive to thetraining of the immature fowls that the tapered wall above the bottomreceptacle guides the beaks of birds to the region of the peckingtarget.

An important requirement in any installation of drinking cups of thistype is that the oor around each drinking cup be kept dry. If spillageoccurs to dampen the oor, an unsanitary condition is created andespecially so because dampened feed particles spoil to cause illnessamong the fowls. A common cause of spillage is that the fowls manipulatetheir tongues inside the drinking cup in such manner as to splash Waterover the rims of the cups. It has been found that in the presentdrinking cup construction the clearance `between the pecking target 35and the surrounding bottom receptacle 42 is so narrow as to preclude theundesirable tongue action.

A further consideration in the design of a drinking cup for poultry isthe problem of accumulation of feed particles in the bottom of the cup.In the present cup construction, the bottom receptacle 42 issufficiently shallow for the birds to readily reach any food particlesin the bottom of the cup so that no accumulation of the food particlesoccurs. If the 'bottom receptacle 42 were mudh deeper, feed particleswould accumulate and spoil to the detriment of the health of the fowlsand on the other hand, if the bottom receptacle 42 were much shallowerthan 3A; inch, insuliicient water would be exposed for availability ofthe fowls.

Another advantage of the particular cup con'tiguration shown in FIGS. 1and -2 relates to the fact that the wattles of fowls are commonlyinjured by the rims of drinking cups. It has been found that in too manyinstances when a fowl attempts to peck at a trigger target, the fowlswattles make injurious impact against the rim of the drinking cup. When,however, a fowl uses a drinking cup of the configuration shown in FIG.2, the fowl reaches over the wide upper rim 45 with the result that theupper rim is out of the range of the wattles when the fowl pecks againstthe trigger target 35.

The second embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is largelyidentical with the irst embodiment as indicated by the use ofcorresponding numerals to indicate corresponding parts. The soledifference is in the configuration of the drinking cup 14a. 'IIhedrinking cup 14a is of a well known configuration that is suitable foradult birds who are thoroughly trained in the use of such a drinkingcup.

It is to be noted that although the described valve mechanism willoperate to control water at a relatively low pressure head of to 15", itfunctions just as effectively with a water head on the order of 72". Thesensitivity of the trigger action, i.e. the responsiveness 0f thetrigger to pecking force does, however, vary with the pressure head.With a relatively low rwater head on the order of 15, the trigger issufficiently sensitive for training young birds. On the other hand, witha substantially higher pressure, the trigger action is satisfactory foradult birds. For adult birds the degree of sensitivity of the triggeraction is not critical and with a pressure head of six feet in a supplyline, branches of the supply line may function satisfactorily to supplywater to fowls in three tiers of cages.

lI claim:

1. In a drinking cup for connection to a water source for supplying'water to fowls, wherein a ilow passage from the source is provided witha valve seat and leads to the interior of the cup and wherein a valvemember is normally held in the seat by pressure from the source and hasan operating extension extending through the seat towards the cup, meansto exert force on said operating extension to shift the valve memberaxially to open position, said means comprising:

a shoulder formed in said passage adjacent the end of said operatingextension of the valve member and spaced radially from the end of theoperating extension, said shoulder facing upstream; and

a second-class lever fulcrumde against said shoulder and having anoperating arm extending out of the discharge end of the passage into thecup, said operating arm being of smaller cross section than tihecorresponding portion of the passage to provide freedom for swingingmovement of the operating anm whereby the valve member may be shifted toopen position by the force of pecks of the fowls directed against theoperating arm of the lever laterally of the axis of the passage.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said lever comprisesa disk in engagement with said shoulder and further comprises a stemextending rigidly from the disk into the drinking cup to serve as saidoperating arm.

3. A combination as set forth in claim 2 in which said stem is an axialstem and said shoulder is effective around the entire innercircumference of the passage whereby said operating arm is movable inany radial direction to shift said valve member to open position.

4. A combination as set forth in claim 3 in which said disk and axialstem comprise a molded body of plastic material of less specic gravitythan water.

5. In a drinking cup having a passage connected to a source of waterunder pressure for supplying water to fowls, a valve mechanism operableby pecking force to 2O control water flow into the cup, comprising:

a valve seat facing upstream in said passage;

a valve member normally held in closed position against said valve seatby the pressure of the water, said valve member having an operatingextension of less cross section than the passage extending downstreamthrough the valve seat;

an inner circumferential shoulder formed in the passage and facingupstream in the region of the end of said operating extension; and

an operating member movable against the end of said operating extensionto unseat the valve member,

said operating member having a disk portion adjacent the end of theextension in abutment with said shoulder and further having an armportion of less cross section than the passage projecting from the diskthrough the passage into the cup,

whereby lateral pecking force against the arm portion fulcrums the diskagainst the shoulder to rock the disk against said extension.

6. A combination as set forth in claim 5 in which said operating memberis a molded plastic part with an enlargement on the end of the armportion to serve as a pecking target.

7. A device of the character described for connection to a water sourcefor supplying water to fowls, comprising:

a drinking cup;

means to connect the drinking cup to a source of water,

said connecting means forming a water passage directed into the interiorof the drinking cup;

valve means to control water flow through said passage, said valve meansbeing normally biased to closed position;

control means to open said valve means, said control means including atrigger having a target portion inside the drinking cup, said triggerbeing effective to open said valve means in response to the impact ofpecks of the fowls against the target portion of the trigger,

said drinking cup having an upper portion and a lower portion of adifferent configuration than the upper portion to hold a body of water,said trigger target extending into the lower portion of the cup tomaintain a body of water in the lower portion, said upper portion of thecup being flared above the water level to a substantially greater areain plan than the lower portion, providing a means to cause the fowls toreach over the flared upper portion to peck the trigger target to reducethe possibility of the fowls striking the lower parts of their beaksagainst the flared rim of the cup, the flared portion of the cup furtherserving to guide the fowls beaks to the region of the trigger target.

y8. A device as set forth in claim 7 in which the distance of the bottomwall of the drinking cup from the underside of the trigger target isapproximately to provide a body of water sufficient to attract the fowlswithout the body of water being so deep as to keep the fowls fromremoving feed material from the bottom of the cup to prevent theaccumulation of feed material in the cup.

9. A device as set forth in claim 7 in which said trigger target extendsat least approximately half way across the lower portion of the drinkingcup for high probability that a random peck by an immature fowl willmake Contact with the trigger target.

10. A device of the character described for connection to a water sourcefor supplying water to fowls, comprising:

a drinking cup;

means to connect the drinking cup to a source of water,

said connecting means forming a water passage directed into the interiorof the drinking cup,

said drinking cup having a lower portion to hold a body of water and anupper portion above the lower portion, said upper portion of the cupbeing ared to a substantially greater area in plan than the lowerportion to cause the fowls to reach over the ared upper portion to peckthe trigger target to reduce the possibility of the fowls striking thelower part of their beaks against the rim of the cup;

a valve seat facing upstream in said passage;

a valve member biased to closed position against said valve seat, saidvalve member having an operating extension of less cross section thanthe passage extending downstream through the valve seat;

an inner circumferential shoulder formed in the passage and facingupstream in the region of the end of said operating extension; and

an operating member movable against the end of said operating extensionto unseat the valve member,

said operating member having a disk portion adjacent the end of theextension in abutment with said shoulder and further having an armportion of less cross section than the passage projecting from the diskthrough the passage into the cup,

whereby lateral pecking force against the arm portion fulcrums the diskagainst the shoulder to rock the disk against said extension,

said arm portion of the operating member terminating in an enlargedpecking target in said lower portion of the drinking cup.

11. A device as set forth in claim 10 in which the distance of thebottom wall of the drinking cup from the underside of the trigger targetis approximately to provide a body of water sufficient to attract thefowls without the body of water being so deep as to keep the fowls fromremoving feed material from the bottom of the cup to prevent theaccumulation of feed material in the cup.

12. A device as set forth in claim 10 in which said trigger targetextends vat least approximately half way across the lower portion of thedrinking cup for high probability that a random peck by an immature fowlwill make contact with the trigger target.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,078,796 11/1913 Moise 137-4101,743,719 1/1930 Londen et al.A 119-75 1,744,007 1/ 1930 Londen 119-751,774,876 2/1930 Ferris 119-75 1,824,116 9/1931 Boyden 119-75 2,490,55512/ 1949 Songer 251--231 X 2,664,069 12/ 1953 Anderson -l 119-753,324,834 6/ 1967 McKinstry 119-78 ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

